The longest race of the Moonsund Regatta from Kärdla to Kihnu | 13 Jul 18, piret.salmistu

The 70 -
90-mile Loodus Invest Kärdla - Kihnu leg of the A. Le Coq 61st Moonsund Regatta
finished in the early hours of Friday. The first yacht to come in was Amserv
Toyota ST of ORC II and they exceeded even the most optimistic expectations by
coming in an hour before midnight, having raced for thirteen hours. After
having raced for 17 hours, the last boat to reach the finish line was folkboot
Tiina at 3.26 in the morning. The winners of the longest leg of the regatta
were: Minni, Amserv Toyota ST, Bailarina, Katarina Jee, Sinyaya Ptica,
Mercurius and Linda.

Thursday
morning was very sunny in Kärdla, and fortunately breezy too. According to PRO
Andres Talts the race required patience, focus and team spirit. “The winds were
more favourable than not and there wasn’t much lulling on the sea, which can
happen in summer a lot,” he added later in the day.

Margus
Zuravljov, captain of Amserv Toyota ST (Kalev Yacht Club), the first yacht to
reach Kihnu, was very happy with the race: “It was super in the beginning and
there was even more wind than forecast. Later we had to wait a bit. Sailing in
windless conditions requires peace and quiet, a lot of concentration and effort.
The last bit is the hardest as then exhaustion kicks in.”

Marek Vaho
from Minni (Kalev Yacht Club), who got his first race win this regatta, reflected
that everything worked out as planned: “We are extremely happy to have at least
one race win. If current conditions persist, we need to stay focused, aware of
the competitors, avoid their mistakes and be better than them.”

Andrejs
Buls and Latvian yacht Bailarina won their third race already. According to him
the last couple of hours were a nightmare. “There was no wind, as if someone
had closed the tap. But you just have to know how to enjoy these situations and
this is what I told my team.”

Anne-Mari
Luik, captain Equipe du Piloilleri (ROPK/Kalev Yacht Club), came in third in ESTLYS
II. She said it was one of the first times they actually trusted their own plan.
“We put our strategy in place and made our own decisions. We did not miss the
wind, we like calmer conditions. The only thing we lacked was hot coffee.”

The fifth
race made the overall results more definitive as the results of the worst race
were discarded now. This means the overall leaders ahead of the last two races
are: Sugar 2, Jazz, Bailarina, Katarina Jee, Tessa, Mercurius and Linda.

Friday is
the day of the Dermoshop/Confido leg racing to Pärnu. In the evening two award
ceremonies will be held: both for the Loodus Invest Kärdla - Kihnu leg and the
Friday’s sixth race. Also Estonia 100 festivities continue and the evening
entertainment will be provided by Anna Kucinsky band.